Kilternan Nursing Home presented us with a unique opportunity. The building is a near identical copy of a nursing home built in Rathmines eight years ago. The Rathmines Nursing Home, which has a floor area of approximately 2,000m˛, is heated by underfloor heating linked to gas fired condensing boiler plant. With the larger increase in gas prices in recent years the annual gas bill has risen from €5,000 per annum to €15,000 per annum.
The client, Cowper Care Ltd. were therefore very keen to investigate ways of reducing the new building’s heat loss and also look at more efficient means of generating heat for their new building.
BUILDING DESCRIPTION
As a nursing home, Kilternan Nursing Home is populated by over forty retired men and women together with a full time staff of over thirty people.
The building is a single storey masonry structure, has 47 beds and is composed of single and multi bedrooms provided with ensuite bathrooms together with dining facilities and administration. The building is extremely well insulated throughout. It is provided with heat recovery ventilation and is heated using a ground source heat pump.
Special low E glazing is provided with the U-value of the glass achieving 1.3 w/m2 K
BUILDING FABRIC
A number of studies were undertaken for a different wall construction, with a recent study confirming shortcomings in the performance of rigid board insulation. It was decided to use full fill cavity insulation. Initially the design team considered a glass wool blow fill insulation, however, it was decided to instead use polystyrene bead insulation. All wall cavities are provided with full fill cavity insulation. In addition to this, dry lining is provided internally using 50mm “Rockwool Flexi” mineral wool.
At roof level mineral fibre insulation between the joists together with insulation between the rafters has a combined thickness of over 350mm. The floor slab is insulated throughout with 100mm high density Aerobord. Special low E glazing is provided with the u-value of the glass achieving 1.3 w/m˛ K. Table 1 indicates the actual u-values achieved for Kilternan and compares them with u-values achieved for Rathmines.
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